Video workflow · 30 seconds

Image to seven PBR maps: the complete workflow

Watch one source image become aligned albedo, normal, roughness, metallic, AO, height, and emission maps, then download the sample and exact generation manifest.

Reviewed by the PLAYTEX AI Editorial Team · Updated

PLAYTEX AI technical workflow · 30 seconds · English captions

Direct answer

What should you do?

Start with a clean, tileable source; choose image, procedural, or hybrid mode; generate all seven channels from the same source state; tune material response rather than each image in isolation; then validate the aligned stack in a lit preview before engine export.

Video chapters

  1. 0:00 — The source-to-material goal

    See the complete PBR stack as the intended result, not seven unrelated files.

  2. 0:05 — Choose the source mode

    Select image, procedural, or hybrid input according to the source you actually have.

  3. 0:11 — Generate seven aligned channels

    Build albedo, normal, roughness, metallic, AO, height, and emission from one shared state.

  4. 0:17 — Tune material response

    Adjust relief, gloss, metal response, occlusion, and glow while watching the shaded result.

  5. 0:23 — Keep the output repeatable

    Preserve the settings that produced the reviewed map stack.

  6. 0:27 — Export for the renderer

    Package the approved maps for the destination engine.

Step-by-step implementation

  1. Prepare the source. Remove accidental lighting, correct perspective, and confirm the image can repeat before generating maps.
  2. Generate one aligned stack. Create all requested channels from the same source dimensions and material classification.
  3. Tune in dependency order. Set structure and normal strength first, then roughness, metal response, occlusion, height, and emission.
  4. Validate and export. Rotate the light, inspect channel files, save the manifest, and package only maps used by the target material.

Key decisions

  • Every channel must share the same crop, seam, scale, and orientation.
  • Albedo is color; lighting response belongs in normal, roughness, metallic, AO, height, and emission.
  • Review the maps as a material under moving light before approving the ZIP.

Key frames and map details

PLAYTEX AI albedo sample from the seven-map workflow
Albedo keeps surface color separate from directional lighting.
PLAYTEX AI tangent-space normal sample from the seven-map workflow
The normal map carries small-scale light direction in tangent space.
PLAYTEX AI roughness sample from the seven-map workflow
Roughness controls highlight spread and must match the material class.

Seven-map manifest excerpt

{
  "material": "playtex-sample",
  "normalConvention": "OpenGL-Y+",
  "maps": {
    "albedo": { "colorSpace": "sRGB" },
    "normal": { "colorSpace": "linear" },
    "roughness": { "colorSpace": "linear" },
    "metallic": { "colorSpace": "linear" },
    "ao": { "colorSpace": "linear" },
    "height": { "colorSpace": "linear" },
    "emission": { "colorSpace": "sRGB" }
  }
}

How to know the result is correct

Apply the stack to a neutral sphere and plane, rotate a white key light, inspect the tile boundary, and confirm no channel shifts relative to albedo. The material should remain believable under both broad and grazing light.

Video transcript

  1. 0:00 PLAYTEX AI PBR Map Generator: turn one source into a complete material stack.

  2. 0:05 Source mode: image, procedural, or hybrid. Start with the texture you have or controlled material rules.

  3. 0:11 Seven channels unfold: albedo, normal, roughness, metallic, ambient occlusion, height, and emission.

  4. 0:17 Tune the physics: strength, relief, gloss, metal response, occlusion, and glow.

  5. 0:23 Deterministic output keeps the same settings tied to the same reviewed stack.

  6. 0:27 Export the material maps for Blender, Unity, Unreal, Godot, Three.js, or glTF.